Saturday, April 01, 2006

Tea Review 63 - Pixie Mate Chai Latte

Mrs. Tea Guy is a long time c***** drinker, who has developed a taste for yerba mate and who drinks tea once in a while. A fan of chai and various sweet and iced c***** drinks and whatnot, she recently tried Pixie Mate's Chai Mate Latte and gave it the thumbs up.

Spawn of Tea Guy is not a real big fan of either c***** or tea, though she does go for a latte-type drink now and then. Her few encounters with straight up yerba mate left her decidedly unimpressed. She cautiously sampled Chai Mate Latte and also gave it her seal of approval.

Tea Guy is...well, a tea guy who loves yerba mate, loathes c***** and doesn't get too worked up over sweet stuff. Tea Guy tasted Chai Mate Latte and decreed that it's not so bad if that's the sort of thing you like. This might sound like rather grudging praise, but it's actually a pretty big thumbs up, considering my biases and especially considering the fact that I'm not that fond of chai.

The tasting team didn't all get to take part in testing Dark Roast Mate Latte. Mrs. Tea Guy seemed to like it, but held the opinion that it might not be for everyone. Tea Guy also didn't think it was too bad, though it definitely had quite a bite. All of Pixie's latte drinks seem to be geared toward c***** drinkers, but they appear to be pushing this one a little harder to those potential defectors from the ranks. Makes sense, given the robust flavor.

Both of these drinks are organic concentrates intended to be mixed with equal amounts of whatever you like in your lattes. The TGS tasting team used vanilla soy milk. Both beverages contained filtered water and evaporated cane juice. The Chai version also adds yerba mate, black tea and a mix of six chai spices. In addition to yerba mate, Dark Roast adds roasted chicory root, roasted ramon nut, cinnamon and vanilla.